Level 13 - A Cabal For One

Quest Giver: Hobgoblin Lair Entrance
Level: 13 Party
Patron: Agents of Aronnessen (6/12/18)
Length: very long
Entry Point: Hobgoblin Lair, northern gianthold ruins, in the Stormfist Quarter
Prereqs: none
Recommended Party: standard, optional specialist rogue chest
Base Experience: 3,364
Quest Info:
--Creatures: hobgoblins, winter wolves
--Traps: blades, spikes

Walkthrough:

Good buffs to have: Resist Fire and Cold, True Sight, and, of course, Greater Heroism. There is also a caster who may cast flesh to stone on you, so carrying a couple of stone to flesh scrolls is good insurance.

Clear out around the corner and speak to the traitor hobgoblin. He will give you two options. One, assist him in taking the place of leader amongst the tribe. Doing so, he will go through and clear out almost all of the traps in the compound, though he will double-cross you In the end. This route will give you his extra chest at the end of the quest. Two, call him out and kick his butt right then and there. If you do this you will have to disable the traps a long the way (bonus xp if you have a rogue) but you won’t get the extra chest at the end.

Make a choice and head further in. You will reach a low wall with a gate, with a passage that goes around. You can jump over the wall to open the get, but either way you will need to go through the side passage to defeat a required enemy. In this side room is the ultimate trap smiths challenge. There is a chest behind a secret door. It is trapped with the super exploding spike trap of doom. It is currently the toughest trap in the game to find and disarm. On elite you need a 61 search to find it and a total roll of 73 to disarm it. There is nothing special about the loot inside, no matter all the work it takes to get it, so bypass it if you don’t have an awesome rogue or a super evasion save.

Clear out the hall, take the right side at the fork to clear out the shrine. Then head back to the left. There is a small room to the left you will need to deal with. Then head further in. The gates ahead are blocked, so you will need to go to the northern doors, climb the ladders and clear out both top rooms. That will open the gates, allowing you access to the final hall and throne room.

Defeat the king, and Gardak the Traitor (if you chose that option) and get you chest(s). The kings chest will have 1 elf relic.

End Reward: Speak to Darsak in the Gianthold for standard reward choice